Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits and Break Bad Ones

Many people struggle to maintain motivation and “The greatest threat to success is not failure but boredom” (Chapter 19, 8). Sticking with habits is the best way to become successful. For example, Steve Martin began his career selling guidebooks at Disneyland. He transitioned to Disney’s magic shop, where he learned tricks and experimented with jokes and comedy routines. Through this, he discovered his love of performing. He kept refining his craft and performing regularly, and after 15 years of work, he gained fame and became one of the most successful comedians of all time. Martin stayed motivated and stuck to his habits, which paid off.

The Goldilocks Rule can help us experience peak motivation. Humans respond well to challenges, but only if it is within the optimal zone of difficulty. It should be a challenge but not impossible. Through small advances, little improvements, and new challenges, you can achieve a flow state. When you are in the zone and fully immersed in an activity, you are in a flow state. The flow state is achieved when a task is roughly 4% beyond your current ability. A difference of 4% motivates you to improve but it is manageable. New challenges and variety help us stay interested. Mastering a skill is often repetitive, and many people get bored. Successful people also struggle when tasks become monotonous, but they are able to push through and do them anyway. Humans desire variable rewards. Variation amplifies cravings because it reduces boredom. To be successful, you have to fall in love with boredom, “professionals stick to the schedule; amateurs let life get in the way” (Chapter 19, 10). Identifying what is important to you and working towards it with focus is what will make you achieve your goals. 

In 1986, the Los Angeles Lakers were one of the most talented basketball teams in history. However, they blew their lead in the playoffs and didn’t qualify for the NBA championship. Head coach Pat Riley implemented a system called Career Best Effort program, or CBE. The players’ baseline level of performance was charted, and they were asked to improve their performance by 1% a season. The players’ results were measured and written on a blackboard weekly. Eight months later, the Lakers were the NBA champions, highlighting the importance of sustaining effort through reflection and review.

Combining habits with deliberate practice will lead to mastery. Habits are the foundation of mastery, and repetition helps you develop fluency, speed, and skill. The more you are able to do automatically, the more mental space you have to level up. However, as things become more automatic, you become less sensitive to feedback. Tasks can be executed mindlessly, and mistakes can slip in. At a certain point, you simply reinforce habits you stop improving. After mastery, there is often a slight decline in performance over time. Deliberate practice prevents us from stagnating. Improvement is about fine tuning your habits so you can make necessary corrections. Reflecting on your successes and failures helps us improve, but it also brings perspective. In doing so, you can shift the beliefs that hold you back.

Small improvements can seem meaningless, but gradually, changes and habits layer on top of each other. Over time, the improvement becomes undeniable and rewards follow. Building better systems is the best way to improve because success is a system and a process of refining, not a goal to reach.